Nick Stovall-Kurtz Period 10 February 18, 2012 Solar Energy Solar energy has been used throughout history

and still used today. Many people had predicted that the 21st century would be getting a large percent of its electricity from solar energy but unfortunately, this has yet to happen. Only one-tenth of one percent of the nations electricity supply is obtained from solar power (John Tabak ,pg 1, solar power: sunlight and geometry). This is so unfortunate because solar energy is a relatively clean source of energy, is abundant and inexhaustible, and not only can be converted into electricity, but also into thermal energy. Its potential is limitless if scientists are able to harness huge amounts of sunlight around the clock. There are two types of solar power technologies that I will discuss. Photovoltaic technologies convert sunlight into electricity and thermal technologies convert sunlight into thermal energy. Thermal technologies, the older of the two ways of harnessing solar energy, has been used by ancient Indian and Greek civilizations. The civilizations built their homes so that the inside of the homes could harness as much sunlight as possible. The thick walls of the houses these civilizations built would absorb ample amounts of sunlight during the winter and be able to keep it warm. During the summer time, they would build overhangs that would shade the inside of the homes, thus letting the interior receive less sunlight. Today, the use of thermal technologies, also known as passive heating in buildings, has become scarce because of how expensive it is compared to burning fossil fuels for heat. However, some parts of Germany and the Netherlands have started to use passive heating and cooling in buildings commonly. Although it is more expensive than fossil fuels, it is a source of clean and ecofriendly energy. The reason why it is so expensive is because each passive heating design differs because of the location of the building and the local solar intensity, or in other words, how much sunlight the specific location receives. This can work to heat water by having a series of mirrors reflect a stream of sunlight on a central pipe, thus heating the water.

Photovoltaic technologies is a newer, more technologically advanced way to converting sunlight into energy. However, instead of converting the sunlight into heat, it converts it directly into electricity. Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel(1820-1891) was the first to generate an electrical current from sunlight but the observation was extremely weak. Then, in 1883, American inventor Charles Fritts was able to construct the first solar cell. Again, the observations of the energy output were weak. He understood the potential for the technology, but from a practical point of view his cells were useless because they converted less than 1 percent of the incident light into electricity (John Tabak, pg 6, brief history of solar power). It wasnt till the 1950s that efficient solar cells were invented by Albert Einstein. Hundreds of these cells are put into panels about three feet wide and six feet high. Each individual cell has a thin layer of metal that is covered by a thin layer of silicon. Then, behind these layers, is a semiconductor. When sunlight comes in contact with the silicon layer, electrons from the silicon atoms are jolted and moved through both the metal and semiconductor and then into an electric wire. This produces an electric current. This is the technology used by satellites, space stations, and robot landers that go to other planets (J.S Kidd, pg 1, clean energy and reducing air pollution). This came in handy when the United States and Soviet Union were competing for more sophisticated technology in space. The Soviet Union had originally used batteries for their first satellite. This posed a problem because they were much too heavy and the batteries were only good for so long. The United States then decided that it would be a much better idea to use solar cells as a source of energy on satellites. Today, the solar panels on the International Space Station produce about 33,000 watts of power each. Solar power is so much more eco-friendly than fossil fuels, which unfortunately is our most common source of energy today. Fossil fuels results in mass amounts of pollution daily and because of the CO2 given off when burned, it builds up over time in the atmosphere resulting in global warming. On the other hand, solar power gives off no CO2, no pollution, and is inexhaustible (unlike fossil fuels). Although fossil fuels is much cheaper than solar energy (which is why it isnt used more often), we need to start looking at what the effects of using them will be in the future. It would be better to shell out the extra money for solar panels than to have future generations never be able to see ice glaciers in Antarctica.